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Heat moves to Wellington house prices

NZ Newswire 2/05/2017Paul McBeth

New Zealand property values stalled in the three months to April as tighter credit conditions and restrictions on riskier mortgage lending has seen dwindling sales numbers, says state-owned valuer Quotable Value.

The QV house price index showed the nationwide average property value was $631,147 in April, up 11 per cent from a year earlier.

Over the three months ended April 30, national property values were unchanged due in large part to a 0.4 per cent decline in Auckland property values, which had been the lynchpin for the country's overheated housing market in recent years.

By contrast, Wellington property values continued their march higher after a protracted lull, up 3.4 per cent to $602,230 in the three months ended April 30, rounding out a 21 per cent annual increase.

The capital city is experiencing a lot of first home buyers turning to satellite centres in the Hutt Valley and Porirua with a higher number of listings.

"Nationwide quarterly value growth has plateaued over the past three months as the housing market continues to be constrained by the latest round of LVR (loan-to-value ratio) restrictions," QV spokeswoman Andrea Rush said.

Lending curbs targeting Auckland investors have prompted buyers to look further afield, pushing up prices in the surrounding areas such as Waikato and the Bay of Plenty and Wednesday's data show property values rose at a slower pace in Tauranga, increasing 0.9 per cent over the three months to $678,643 for an annual increase of 18 per cent. Hamilton values rose 1.4 per cent to $538,832 for an annual gain of 14 per cent.

Christchurch property values shrank 0.3 per cent to $495,855 for an annual increase of 1.4 per cent and Dunedin values rose 3.5 per cent to $371,739 for an annual gain of 17 percent.